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The recognition and representation of BAME community as 'high risk' of Covid-19 in the UK presents both a health and an identity threat to this ethnic group. This study employed thematic analysis to explore response to these threats as related by a sample of 13 middle class members of the South Asian community. This work advances both health and identity psychological theory by recognising the affinity between expressions of health efficacy and identity. Our findings identify South Asian intragroup stigmatisation and commonalities that have implications for the promotion of health behaviour and health communications for minority groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mutual aid groups developed and mobilized in communities across the UK and globally at the outset of the pandemic in order to support vulnerable community members with practical assistance and emotional support, with some understanding their work in political terms. This study adopted a "social cure" lens to investigate the effects of group identification and group perceptions on anxiety and coping self‐efficacy among members of UK Covid‐19 mutual aid groups. Survey data were collected from self‐identified members of these groups (N = 844) during the initial period of "lockdown" restrictions in April – May 2020. Correlational analyses showed that identification with the mutual aid group was linked to more positive group perceptions and better self‐reported psychological outcomes. Perceived group politicization showed the reverse pattern. Mixed support for the "social cure" model was evident; the effect of group identification on coping self‐efficacy (but not anxiety) was serially mediated by perceived support and collective efficacy. Perceived group politicization was a significant moderator, seeming to amplify the indirect effect of group identification on coping self‐efficacy via perceived support. Results are discussed in light of previous empirical work on the social cure and Covid‐19 mutual aid groups. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For some older people and their families, live-in care offers a way of continuing to live independently at home in their local community. While research in the care industry has consistently highlighted the effects of caring on workers, little research has specifically explored the experiences of live-in carers. The current study examines the ways in which live-in carers construct their role, the different challenges they face and the strategies they use to mitigate them. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 21 live-in carers in the United Kingdom and the data were analysed using thematic analysis. The findings suggest that carers perceive their role as complex and characterised by a heavy workload and tiredness. Participants emphasised the variability which was introduced to the role as a function of the quality of agency support, the character and condition of the client, and the carer's relationships with the client's family. Participants' accounts reflected an acknowledgement of the need to orient and respond constantly to the needs and routine of the client. While this orientation was recognised as necessary for effectively fulfilling the demands of the role, it was also linked to feelings of dislocation and loss of identity. Drawing on understandings of personal and social identity, the implications of these findings for the psychological wellbeing of live-in carers and organisational support are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extending research on US ideological identity as a social identity, this study employs a social representations approach to capture identity meaning as a form of national attachment. Across two studies (n = 723), we demonstrate that two novel organizing principles of US ideological identity—national reverence (veneration of the nation in the abstract, its symbols, sacred texts, and founding fathers) and individual support (a focus on the progress of individuals and the change required to bring about equality)—significantly predicted ideological self‐categorization, 2016 presidential voting, and affective political polarization over and above right‐wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation. The results suggest an integration of national and conservative identities that places US national identity in opposition to liberal identity and to progress and equality, pointing to the divisive employment of national identity in the current political environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, appeared to have put an end to the political violence between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland. However, although violence has been reduced after the Good Friday Agreement, the conflict between the two groups, which has deep historical roots, is more likely to be considered a continuous problem on the island. In the Brexit climate where the contested rhetoric of 'sovereignty' is salient, the integrationist process of the GFA may reverse into re-segregation and ancient enmities between denominational groups. Therefore, using both psychological and historical analyses, this article discusses how Brexit affects national identity dynamics in post-conflict Northern Ireland from a political psychological perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]